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OAV registrants surpass 2005-2006 levels but...
Beyond the perceived lack of interest in Philippine politics, overseas Pinoys who don’t want to vote seem simply uninspired. Greg Macabenta, a syndicated journalist and national chair of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations, said Filipino migrants have yet to realize that they are a powerful force to be reckoned with in Philippine politics. “Right now, overseas Filipinos still see no one in the Philippines who can inspire them with respect to the 2010 elections," he told GMANews.TV just after Barack Obama won the 2008 US elections. [See: Obama's victory showed overseas Pinoys the power of the vote] The essential principles of electoral participation as well as equality before the law were held by Filipino migrants in high esteem, said a recently published study by German researchers Dr. Christl Kessler and Stefan Rother. However, when they asked 1,000 overseas Filipino worker (OFW) returnees from the Middle East and East Asia, they discovered that while migrants are determined to exercise their democratic right to vote, they also become more critical of the Philippines after having been abroad. Filipinos who come from states, which the Freedom House Index identifies as democratic – Japan and Taiwan – and authoritarian – Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong - often feel alienated. “I myself am a Filipino, but I don’t give a damn about this country," a 24-year-old Dubai respondent was quoted saying. - Joseph Holandes Ubalde, GMANews.TV
The number of overseas absentee voter (OAVs) registrants has surpassed the combined number of registrants for 2005-2006, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Friday, but the figure still falls short of their 1-million target. DFA OAV Secretariat chairman Rafael Seguis said that as of July 23, a total of 143,846 new OAV registrants were recorded since the start of the six-month registration last Feb. 1. There were 142,667 OAV registrants in 2005-2006, the DFA said . "With the assistance and support of the Filipino community organizations under their jurisdictions, more field (COMELEC-funded) and mobile (OAVS-funded) registrations are being conducted worldwide," Seguis said in an article posted on the DFA website. However, the 143,846 is still far short of the government's goal of one million OAV registrants by end-August. To reach the million mark, the government should have at least 166,666 registrants every month until the OAV registration ends on Aug. 31. Still, Seguis said the OAVS has sent letters to 1,574 leaders of Filipino community organizations abroad (541 in Asia-Pacific, 504 in the Americas, 388 in the Middle East and Africa and 141 in Europe). "The sending of letters of appeal for the cooperation, assistance and support of these Filipino community organizations is still on-going," the DFA said. It added field and mobile OAV registration has serviced some 178 sites and venues. A big number of these field/mobile registrations have also been scheduled for August. While it might be impossible at this point for the DFA to meet its 1-million target, the intensified OAV registration process in the Middle East is expected to bolster the figures further. [See: Intensified OAV registration bears fruit in Saudi Arabia] Several Philippine lawmakers are also pushing for several amendments to the OAV registration process to increase the voting turnout. This includes moving the Aug. 31 deadline and making registration centers more accessible to Filipinos in remote areas overseas [See sidebar]. As of July 23, Hong Kong still leads in the OAV registration drive with 14,259 new registrants. The rest of the top ten posts in terms of OAV registrants are as follows: Los Angeles with 8,406, Dubai - 7,998, Singapore - 6,300, London - 4,734, Riyadh - 4,588, Toronto - 4,254, New York - 4,130, Tokyo - 3,414, and Washington - 3,241. - GMANews.TV 
